Stewart awarded win after pass ruled illegal

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Tony Stewart ended his frustrating winless season Sunday by earning his first Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway when NASCAR ruled Regan Smith's last-lap pass was illegal.

Smith was in second and trailed Stewart for the final three laps around Talladega, and the rookie made one desperate attempt to grab his first career victory by ducking inside of the two-time champion to attempt a pass.

Stewart blocked, Smith dove below the yellow out-of-bounds line at the bottom of the track to make the pass, and beat Stewart to the finish line. NASCAR reviewed the move -- a driver is allowed to make the pass if officials believe he was forced under the line -- and declared it illegal.

The ruling gave Stewart his first win of the season and snapped a 43-race winless streak dating to Watkins Glen last year. It also was his first career Cup win at Talladega, which has taunted him for 10 years as he finished second six times.

The race had a NASCAR-record 31 lead changes, several tire failures and lived up to its reputation as the "wild card" of the 10 Chase events. Because of its white-knuckle racing conditions, Talladega is the one Chase race every driver fears will ruin his title hopes.

It most certainly did for Denny Hamlin, who was taken to a Birmingham hospital after his tire exploded while he was leading and his car slammed into the outside wall. He finished 39th and dropped to last in the Chase field.

And it may have sunk the Roush Fenway Racing trio of Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, who were at the front of a 12-car accident with 16 laps to go.

The carnage spread to Chase drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, but points leader Jimmie Johnson deftly maneuvered through the wreckage.

Edwards immediately accepted responsibility for the accident.

"I was just pushing Greg as hard as I could. This is my fault, I apologize to everyone caught up in the wreck," Edwards said. "It's my fault. I feel bad I took my teammates out. I know Matt's mad, and I'm sure Greg is mad. I always worry about the idiots when I come here and today it was me."

Although most everyone agreed Edwards was at fault, the drivers seemed resigned to the Talladega conditions playing a role.

"Same old Talladega," said Biffle, winner of the first two Chase races. "This will hurt us in the points, but we've got six more. We knew this one was the wild card ... you just can't expect anything out of Talladega."